Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Villain Buffet


Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??



A child of two powerful characters in their own right--Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers--the power of Hyperstorm eclipsed theirs and he grew to be a major threat, not only to his own world but to the universe. Apparently this apple fell a long way from his parents' tree.

As to his motivations, let's just say Hyperstorm has a somewhat warped view of bringing stability to the universe:



"Grandpa" being Nathaniel Richards, his great-grandfather, who is dressed in futuristic armor and seems to have a Borg implant for an eye. You're not going to ask me to go into the whys and hows of Nathaniel Richards, are you? Because trying to draw that guy's flowchart would take me beyond the limits of my sanity. Suffice to say that he's not too happy with this young whippersnapper who's lived a life of brutal subjugation:



Yet Hyperstorm won't be swayed, since he's of the firm belief that "true order cannot coexist with individual freedom." And he's got the kind of power that allows him to achieve his goals, however mad. As if his abilities weren't enough, Hyperstorm also possesses a superior intellect, creating a number of advanced devices to further his agenda and destroy his enemies. In addition, few could equal him in plotting and planning, which has been integral to a number of sub-plots running through Fantastic Four during this time. Franklin's aging to adulthood; the healing of Ben's face from an earlier attack by Wolverine; the apparent death of Reed during his last battle with Dr. Doom; Reed being trapped in the past; Nathaniel wandering time and space. A confusing list of developments that has you almost wondering why Hyperstorm, with his despotic nature and obviously realizing the threat of the FF, nevertheless goes out of his way to avoid harming them. Perhaps blood is thicker than water, after all.

That's not to say that Hyperstorm can't be pushed to his limit. With Reed on the verge of launching a covert plan to end his threat, Hyperstorm threatens to make a deadly choice:




But Reed's plan finally comes to fruition, as he whistles up Galactus who had been trapped in a dimensional void. And brother, is he hungry:




With Hyperstorm in effect a living conduit to the power in hyperspace--and given that hyperspace is, in Reed's words, "a limitless source of energy"--Galactus has found himself one hell of an all-you-can-eat buffet in Hyperstorm, giving the planet-eater a limitless and perpetual source of energy on which to sustain his hunger throughout eternity. Of course, Galactus has been seen many times since, once again in our universe, which perhaps means that we could be seeing Hyperstorm again one day. I can't say I blame Galactus for walking away from a guaranteed food tray--I wouldn't want to have the same meal every day, either.


1 comment:

Doc Savage said...

Just the name Hyperstorm tells me (1) this is the '90s and (2) it probably is awful. The costumes seal the deal.